Jury shown top secret files at Shayler trial

The jury at the trial of a former MI5 agent who publicised classified information, including files on the IRA's relationship with Libya, were shown hundreds of pages of top secret information that prosecutors claim had been copied from security service archives.

The jury at the Old Bailey were today shown 250 pages taken from top-secret files which the prosecution contend were coped by David Shayler whilst at he was employed at MI5.

Prosecution QC, John McSweeney, said that the top-secret files were used as the basis for a series of articles in the Mail On Sunday in August 1997 – for which Mr Shayler received £40,000. Mr Shayler has denied that was the amount, suggesting that it was around £20,000. The whistle-blowing articles contained a number of allegations about the nature of the security services and their operating methods.

Mr Shayler is facing three charges under the Official Secrets Act. Two charges relate to the disclosure of documents and information about the work of MI5 and one for disclosing information about telephone taps, including surveillance of a journalist.

The Shayler Affair has been a thorn in the side of the security establishment and a series of headline making bombshells raised serious questions over the effectiveness of British intelligence.

Revelations from Mr Shayler include suggestions that the IRA cell responsible for the 1993 Bishopsgate bombing, in which one person was killed, could have been arrested six months previous to the outrage. And in early 2000, he gave an interview to The Observer newspaper in which he claimed that ex-Beatle John Lennon had given thousands of pounds to fund republican terrorists.

Lennon's widow Yoko Ono was quick to refute the allegation at the time and said in a radio interview: "My husband did not give money to the IRA. My husband gave money when it was asked (for) by people who were in need."

David Shayler, 36, who is defending himself, joined MI5 in 1994 and worked in a department responsible for investigating international terrorism. He left the intelligence services in 1997.

Shayler moved to France before the Mail On Sunday articles were published and was arrested in Paris in 1998 – only to be released by a French court in November 1998. He was arrested again on return to Britain in 2000.

Former MI6 agent, and fellow whistle-blower, Richard Tomlinson said that Mr Shayler's actions had "set in motion an unstoppable momentum towards real reform of the intelligence services".

Mr Shayler, who has always maintained his motivation was patriotism and not self-aggrandisement, said at the time of his arrest, that he had given himself up in order to "clear my name and allow a jury to judge me".

The trial continues.

(GMcG)